IMPACT

Okay, I'm writing this post today because I feel quite deflated recently. I am trying to work out why things are moving so lethargically which is why I am trying to breakdown my work into smaller, more manageable parts so that I can have more clarity to act. I didn't need to do this much previously - I was able to know what I needed to do and when I needed to do it by. Perhaps this is because of me trying to fill 2 roles at one time, or perhaps the increase in responsibility that came with my new role.

Here is what I came up with to maximize the IMPACT of my work:

1. Mosquito-fly tasks - Low impact irritants that really sap your energy. How to deal with them?  Allocate X time to swat them. Results do not matter. If you did not manage to swat them in X time, just give up. It probably doesn't matter anyway with the low quality of the task.
2. Black Hole tasks - Tasks that just suck a monumental amount of time and resources with no payoff. How to deal with them? AVOID like poison. If you get sucked into these tasks and cannot avoid its gravity, sacrifice something and hope the dark black hole gods are appeased.
3. Nanny tasks - Did you remember to X? Where is Y at? These are reminder tasks to keep people in your work ecosystem on track. How to deal with them? Check in with them at scheduled checkpoints and don't let it get personal.
4. Path finding tasks - So your entire ground team is mired in a swamp and can't find their way out. These tasks involve making the map and helping the team see the destination. It also helps them push through adversity. Includes future-planning to avoid disasters. How to deal with them? It take time to make a good map. It also takes time for the team to learn how to read the map. While the team won't die of immediate starvation, the sooner the map is done, the sooner they can start taking steps towards their destination.
   
5. Equipping tasks - Does your team have enough stuff to work properly? Includes procurement tasks.  How to deal with them? Get everything you can on the procurement collation boat. For everything else, there is ad-hoc.
   
6. Bureaucratic BS/admin/reporting tasks - Pretty self explanatory. All those courses, reports, declarations and the like. How to deal with them? Necessary evil. Park some time aside and get them over with. 
7. Diplomatic tasks - Glad handing and connecting tasks. How to deal with them? Leave the major glad handing to more visible members of your team. Just be nice and keep a low profile.